State v. Campbell, 835 S.E.2d 844

Defendant (Thomas C. Campbell) was indicted for felony breaking/entering a place of worship and felony larceny for allegedly stealing a music receiver, microphones, wires (ownership alleged as Andy Stevens and Manna Baptist Church) on/around Aug 15, 2012.
Church doors may have been left unlocked after Wed. Aug 15; the missing equipment was discovered the following Sunday; the items were never recovered.
Defendant was found early Thursday morning near the church, empty-handed; his wallet was found inside the church near where some equipment was stored.
Defendant admitted being inside the church overnight and said he could not remember what he had done; he testified he entered to seek water/sanctuary and denied taking anything; many others had access to the church during the four-day window.
Procedural history: jury convicted on both counts; Court of Appeals vacated the larceny conviction (fatal variance / insufficiency); this Court previously addressed related issues in two prior opinions and, on this appeal, the Supreme Court modified and affirmed the Court of Appeals’ vacatur of the larceny conviction based on insufficient evidence.

Issue	State's Argument	Campbell's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for felony larceny (taking & carrying away)	Presence in church, wallet found near equipment, and admissions supplied substantial evidence linking defendant to theft	Evidence shows only opportunity; no proof defendant took or carried away the items; items never recovered	Held: Insufficient evidence to prove taking/carrying away; larceny conviction vacated
Fatal variance between indictment (two owners named) and trial evidence	Indictment was legally adequate; no fatal variance	Indictment named two owners but trial evidence showed only the church owned the items, creating a variance	Court declined to decide on the merits here as sufficiency ruling was dispositive
Invocation of Rule 2 to review preservedness / fatal variance	Rule 2 should not have been invoked by Court of Appeals to reach waived argument	Rule 2 invocation appropriate to prevent injustice	Not resolved—unnecessary after finding insufficiency
Right to unanimous jury verdict on larceny	Evidence supported submission to jury without unanimity error	Jury unanimity deprived because of multiple possible perpetrators and lack of linking evidence	Not addressed—decision disposed by insufficiency ruling

State v. Campbell, 368 N.C. 83, 772 S.E.2d 440 (2015) (earlier Supreme Court opinion addressing indictment adequacy and B&E intent)
State v. Call, 349 N.C. 382, 508 S.E.2d 496 (1998) (standard for reviewing motions to dismiss: substantial evidence of each element and perpetrator)
State v. Reid, 334 N.C. 551, 434 S.E.2d 193 (1993) (elements of larceny)
State v. Minor, 290 N.C. 68, 224 S.E.2d 180 (1976) (presence in area of crime is insufficient—opportunity alone cannot sustain conviction)
State v. Murphy, 225 N.C. 115, 33 S.E.2d 588 (1945) (suspicion or conjecture insufficient to sustain conviction where identity not proven)
State v. White, 293 N.C. 91, 235 S.E.2d 55 (1977) (strong suspicion that defendant was in vicinity is insufficient absent proof eliminating reasonable doubt)